October 24th, 2007 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Game Awards | No Comments »
Konami has announced the winner of the Contra 4 mobile design contest which they held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the gaming franchise.
Stephen Hetrick from Tampa U.S. Was announced winner of the design contest. His character was the closest expression of what the Contra games stand for according to the Konami Mobile judges.
"Konami Mobile is very appreciative of all those who participated in this contest," said Joe Morris, Vice President, Konami Digital Entertainment’s Mobile Division. "We were overwhelmed by the tremendous success of the contest, which brought Contra fans together to help launch a successful franchise on a new platform with new user generated content."
"As a huge fan of Konami and Contra, I really couldn’t be more excited about winning the contest. Contra is undisputedly among the most fondly remembered game series of all time, and I think every gamer fantasizes about contributing to the development of their favorite game franchises at some point," said Hetrick. "Opportunities like that don’t show up every day, much less a chance for the fans a chance to donate something as big as their own character design."
Hetrick’s winning character is a ballistics-engineering expert and hawk-eyed marksman named Solomon Caesar, who operated as a soldier of fortune during the Alien Wars, lending his expertise to the highest bidder. Eventually, Solomon was apprehended and forced to participate in an experiment involving splicing alien genetic material into a human body. The process left his body in poor health, taking from him his prized eyesight and the ability to properly process life giving oxygen. He was subsequently tossed away like trash by his captors, only to be later recovered by a government agency and saved from the brink of death. Ashamed of his actions as a greedy mercenary and burning with hatred against the injustices he had experienced firsthand, Solomon set out for redemption and revenge against the alien threat, and was quickly chosen as a new member of the Contra task force. Solomon now wears a face mask in order to safely breath oxygen and a pair of goggles which enhance his eyesight to nearly superhuman levels.
